Rousseff advocates investing funds from pre-salt oil in education

During the inauguration ceremony of Brazil's new Education Minister Renato Janine Ribeiro, held Monday (Apr 6), President Dilma Rousseff argued for the use of the funds from pre-salt oil exploration in education.

Rousseff noted that the measures to be implemented as part of the current fiscal adjustment will not make an impact on the government's key initiatives in education. “I assure Brazilian citizens that the urgent need to carry out adjustments in our economy, reducing government spending, will not affect the essential and structural programs from the Ministry of Education,” she said.

The president argued that part of the resources from the royalties and the Pre-Salt Social Fund—which, by law, are slated to be invested in health care and education—have already become part of the country's reality, and that this model should be preserved. “No wonder some voices calling for changes in the rules governing the share earmarked for the Brazilian people rise again as the pre-salt oil production grows,” she said. 

Rousseff showed her support for the “recovery of Petrobras,” with a view to ensuring the further exploration of the pre-salt oil and the raising of resources. The state-controlled firm is facing the biggest crisis in its history after a corruption scheme at the company was uncovered. “What's at stake in the fight for Petrobras and for the control over the pre-salt oil is the sovereignty of our country and our education,” she declared.

The president said she places total confidence in the new minister's dedication and competence as chief of education. “Renato Janine Ribeiro is an educator minister, in an educating homeland. His appointment is the symbolic reflection of my greatest priority for the four coming years. I'm sure he'll transform, improve and foster education in our country.”

Full professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at the University of São Paulo (USP), Janine Ribeiro is a graduate in Philosophy from the same institution, and holds a master's degree from the Université Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne, a PhD from USP, and a post-doctoral degree from the British Library.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira